Naturals knock off Springfield Cardinals

Friday night: Despite big nights from James Ramsey and Adam Melker, the Springfield Cardinals couldn't recover fully after the Northwest Arkansas ripped left-hander Jonathan Cornelius for seven runs, all earned, on nine hits within four innings. He pitched to four batters in the fifth.

Key performance: Ramsey fell a triple short of the cycle, hitting his 11th home run among three hits. Melker also had three hits, including a home run and RBI single, for the Cardinals, who tonight face Kansas City's 2012 first-round draft pick, right-hander Kyle Zimmer, in his Double-A debut. He struck out 46 batters in his past 37 innings in the high Class A Carolina League.